Coolings nature trail is a really great day out. It's near Knockholt village so about a 50 minute drive from Sydenham. It's got a really lovely nature trail to walk around with wallabies, sheep, goats, pigs, duck pond etc. There are lots of great hiding places for the kids, teepees and lots to explore. A annual family pass is £12 or else it's £3 per adult, £1.50 for children over 5, under 5 is free. There are also a couple of motorised ride-on tractors which are great fun and Wendy Houses which they are fine with the kids playing in, we easily spend 4-5 hours there when we visit and it also has a great garden centre and cafe! http://www.coolings.co.uk/green-and-ple ... ture-trail

BEDGEBURYhttp://www.forestry.gov.uk/bedgebury
This place is amazing. You can hire bikes, go through extensive forests, they have an amazing adventure trail high up in the trees with 'death slides' and everywhere there are adventure playgrounds hidden in the forest (for all ages). It's 8.50 to park for the day but it's a full day and our 2 year old loved it. So did we. Including the playgrounds!

Another great day out but abit further afield is Groombridge Place near Tunbridge Wells, I love this place!! Admission prices can be expensive (£8.95 for adult, £7.45 for children) but they regularly run deals on www.littlebird.co.uk offering 50% discount. We are going on Tuesday and there are 3 adults, 3 children, all getting in for £24 and it really is a full days entertainment there. A real gem! http://www.groombridgeplace.com

I too am enjoying this post! These are a bit nearer to home.
We like;
Eynsford, train from Bromley South and paddle and fish in the stream on a warm sunny day, picnic by the cricket field and watch a match
Discover Centre, Stratford; like a make-believe literacy centre with arts, crafts, make-believe and a fab outdoor playground
The Olympic Park and its two playgrounds, especially the Tumbledown (?) area, with sand and water
And how about Decathon on a rainy day, just to try out the bikes and scooters?!!

We went to the cinema in Beckenham yesterday with Thomas, our 2 and a half year old. It was £3 each (everyone is the same price) and he sat mesmerised through the whole of Frozen. The cinema was pretty quiet. Well worth a visit on a Saturday morning.

After we went to the Deli Nene in Beckenham. They have a playroom for kids which is great and very good changing facilities. Again he loved it and the food was great.

Then we went to Croydon Road Recreation Ground. This has to be the best, by a country mile, playground near here. It has a fantastic paddling pool. It gets busy though. It's pretty easy to park nearby (for free) and Thomas loved it so much he said 'it's a wonderful day'. Bromley seem to be pretty good at parks, perhaps they could teach Lewisham a thing or two.

For a very cheap day out, and VERY close to Sydenham, try Keston. By car it's only about 20-30 minutes from lower Sydenham.

There are 3 commons next to one another. We went to Keston Common, which was lovely. full of little wooden pathways opening up onto clearings and ponds with people going past on horseback. It's like being in the countryside. Our son loved it. We want to check out West Wickham and Hayes commons too as they all merge into one essentially.

Keston also has a lovely little village green with what looks like a couple of nice pubs (one is called the Greyhound). If anyone has tried these, please report back here!

Possibly pushing the 1.5 hours from Sydenham remit is Drusillas.
We'd camp at Wowo, year in year out and head to Drusillas. I'm no fan of zoos, but this place is perfect for little kids. As a family we really loved it.http://www.drusillas.co.uk

MiniFox wrote:Possibly pushing the 1.5 hours from Sydenham remit is Drusillas.
We'd camp at Wowo, year in year out and head to Drusillas. I'm no fan of zoos, but this place is perfect for little kids. As a family we really loved it.http://www.drusillas.co.uk

Yes Drusillas is a great place for the under 12s huge playground after you've seen the animals. We met Kevin (Blue's Clues) there once, which made my daughter's day.